That puts you in the right mindset to appreciate how the one-time desert escape for Hollywood paparazzi in the mid-20th Century got a facelift and more when the circa 1956 Hotel Valley Ho of Scottsdale reopened in 2005.

It’s not just that you are close to Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home. The decorative concrete reliefs and many diamond and V-shapes do trace to a Wright influence. Although large ego Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t much mention the student who dared to line up work on his home turf, this student and the original architect, Edward Varney, was obviously influenced by his teacher.

Aesthetically the appeal of Hotel Valley Ho is in how the architects of the remodeling, Allen & Philp, obviously took painstaking care to preserve the Mid-century modern look with Eames-like interior touches throughout that make it thoroughly modern at the same time.

Many hotels tout that they are “green” but this is probably one of the few, if not the only, that can boast saving more than 30,000 tons of debris that would have gone to a landfill if there had not been such painstaking preservation effort.

The look starts with the colors and typography on the Hotel Valley Ho sign harkening to the Mid-Century Modern era. Walk inside and you’ll see that the lobby center has a stone lit fire and ample comfortable seating.

Best yet, what Hotel Valley Ho has going for it is location, location, location. Back in the day it may have been a remote spot in Scottsdale. Now it is central to Scottsdale—a city of many destinations—and a great springboard for getting around.

You not only have Café ZuZu but you are steps away from the cutting edge cuisine of The House, amongst many dozens of other great restaurants of all types in walking distance.

It’s a relatively quick drive to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen West and from there a short sprint to legendary PaoloSoleri’s Cosanti.

When world-class golf tournaments, the Superbowl (2015) or baseball’s spring training season arrives you will likely find it difficult to get a room at Hotel Valley Ho. Think to book ahead so you don’t miss out on this architectural treasure and happening place. See the Hotel Valley Ho website.